Note: this is a dynamic schedule, it will almost definitely change as the semester progresses, so make sure to regularly check for changes!
| Week | Event | Date | Topic | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Lecture 1 | Monday 8/17 | Course Logistics & Assignment Series 1 | Syllabus |
| Lecture 2 | Wednesday 8/19 | Introduction to Randomized Search Algorithms | Chapter 1 | |
| Lecture 3 | Friday 8/21 | Introduction to EC | Chapter 2 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 8/21 | 2-6 PM | ||
| AU Date | Friday 8/21 | Last Day to Add Course | AU Academic Calendar | |
| Week 2 | Lecture 4 | Monday 8/24 | Review of Genetics and Neo-Darwinian Evolution Theory | Section 2.3 |
| Lecture 5 | Wednesday 8/26 | EA components, operation, and performance measures | Chapter 3 | |
| Lecture 6 | Friday 8/28 | EA components, operation, and performance measures | Section 3.4.2 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 8/28 | 2-6 PM | ||
| Assignment 1a | Sunday 8/30 | Implementing Stochastic Algorithms | ||
| Week 3 | Lecture 7 | Monday 8/31 | Representation & Variation | Chapter 4 |
| Lecture 8 | Wednesday 9/2 | Permutation Recombination Operators | Section 4.5.2 | |
| Lecture 9 | Friday 9/4 | Population models, parent selection, and survivor selection | Chapter 5 | |
| AU Date | Friday 9/4 | Last day to drop without a W showing in ones transcript | AU Academic Calendar | |
| Week 4 | Labor Day | Monday 9/7 | ||
| Lecture 10 | Wednesday 9/9 | Selection, statistical Analysis for EAs, termination, behavioral observables | Sections 5.2, 3.2.8, 9.1, 9.2 | |
| Lecture 11 | Friday 9/11 | Selection, statistical Analysis for EAs, termination, behavioral observables | Sections 5.2, 3.2.8, 9.1, 9.2 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 9/11 | 2-6 PM | ||
| Assignment 1b | Sunday 9/13 | Implementing Evolutionary Algorithms | ||
| Week 5 | Lecture 12 | Monday 9/14 | Statistical analysis for EAs, survivor selection, termination | Sections 3.2.8, 5.3, 9.1, 9.2, |
| Lecture 13 | Wednesday 9/16 | Constraint Handling | Chapter 13 | |
| Career Fair | Wednesday 9/16 & Thursday 9/17 | Engineering and Technology Career Fair | ||
| Exam 1 | Friday 9/18 | Exam covering all material covered through Lecture 13 | ||
| Week 6 | Lecture 14 | Monday 9/21 | Permutation Recombination Operators | Sections 3.2.5, 4.5 |
| Lecture 15 | Wednesday 9/23 | TBD | ||
| Lecture 16 | Friday 9/25 | Evolutionary Strategies & Parameter Control | §4.4.2,6.2, Chapter 8 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 9/25 | 2-6 PM | ||
| Assignment 1c | Sunday 9/27 | Constraint Satisfaction | ||
| Week 7 | Lecture 17 | Monday 9/28 | Parameter Tuning & Control | Chapters 7 & 8 |
| Lecture 18 | Wednesday 9/30 | Parameter Tuning & Control | Chapters 7 & 8 | |
| Lecture 19 | Friday 10/2 | Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs) | Chapter 12 | |
| Week 8 | Lecture 20 | Monday 10/5 | Memetic EAs, Lamarckianism, Baldwin Effect | Chapter 10 |
| Mid-Semester | Tuesday 10/6 | Mid-Semester - 36th Class Day | ||
| Lecture 21 | Wednesday 10/7 | Evolutionary Programming | Section 6.3 | |
| Lecture 22 | Friday 10/9 | Multimodal problems and spatial distribution | §5.5 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 10/9 | 2-6 PM | ||
| Assignment 1d | Sunday 10/11 | Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms | ||
| Week 9 | Lecture 23 | Monday 10/12 | Genetic Programming: The Movie | Section 6.4 |
| Lecture 24 | Wednesday 10/14 | Genetic Programming: The Movie | Section 6.4 | |
| Exam 2 | Friday 10/16 | Exam covering all material covered through Lecture 24 | ||
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 10/16 | 2-6 PM | ||
| Week 10 | Lecture 25 | Monday 10/19 | Genetic Programming continued | §4.6, 6.4 |
| Lecture 26 | Wednesday 10/21 | TBD | ||
| Lecture 27 | Friday 10/23 | Hyper-heuristics: Inverse Diffusion case study & Self-Configuring Crossover | slides on class website | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 10/23 | 2-6 PM | ||
| Assignment 2a | Sunday 10/25 | Tree Representations | ||
| Week 11 | Lecture 28 | Monday 10/26 | GP Varieties & GPac Controller Implementation | slides on class website |
| Lecture 29 | Wednesday 10/28 | Hyper-heuristics | ||
| Lecture 30 | Friday 10/30 | Hyper-heuristics | ||
| Week 12 | Spring Registration | Monday 11/2 | Registration Period for Spring Semester Opens | |
| Lecture 31 | Monday 11/2 | Interactive EAs | Chapter 14 | |
| Lecture 32 | Wednesday 11/4 | GA Schema Theory (Part 1) | §16.1 | |
| Lecture 33 | Friday 11/6 | GA Schema Theory (Part 2) | §16.1 | |
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 11/6 | 2-6 PM | ||
| Assignment 2b | Sunday 11/8 | Genetic Programming | ||
| Week 13 | Lecture 34 | Monday 11/9 | Learning Classifier Systems | §6.5 | Lecture 35 | Wednesday 11/11 | Hyper-heuristics |
| Lecture 36 | Friday 11/13 | Hyper-heuristics | ||
| Week 14 | Lecture 37 | Monday 11/16 | CIAO plots, Asynchronous Parallel EAs, Design of Fitness Functions | |
| Lecture 38 | Wednesday 11/18 | Evolving Artificial Neural Networks | ||
| Exam 3 | Friday 11/20 | Exam covering all material covered through Lecture 38 | ||
| TA Lab Hours | Friday 11/20 | 2-6 PM | ||
| Week 15 | Lecture 39 | Monday 11/23 | Evolving Artificial Neural Networks | |
| AU Date | Tuesday 11/24 | Last Class Day & Last Day to Withdraw | AU Academic Calendar | |
| No class | Wednesday 11/25 | Thanksgiving Break | ||
| No class | Friday 11/27 | Thanksgiving Break | ||
| Assignment 2c | Sunday 11/29 | Genetic Programming & Coevolution | ||
| Week 16 | Final Exam | Friday 12/4 8:00-10:30am | Comprehensive Exam covering all course material | |
| AU Date | Saturday 12/12 | Commencement | AU Academic Calendar |